From the bride... Mike and I met on LinkedIn. I’m only half kidding. Living only a few blocks from one another and sharing quite a few mutual friends, Mike and I kept bumping into one another, but both of us were a bit nervous to begin talking. Finally around the third casual encounter, at a bar in the East Village, Mike struck up a conversation with me about my career – something my friends know I am incredibly passionate about. He had clearly done some digging. Needless to say that kicked things off, and he really sealed the deal with a LinkedIn request the next day.

Mike and I never discussed marriage. We both always saw it as a very organic process – either it would happen one day or it wouldn’t. Safe to say, I did not see it coming! We were at his family’s house at the beach, we had just finished a perfect, leisurely Sunday lunch, and I suggested we go for a walk at a nearby nature preserve, something Mike normally politely declines. But lo and behold, he was up for it today because we had eaten quite a bit. We came up to a beautiful outlook, and I annoyingly asked to take Mike’s photo, and he repaid the annoyance, asking me the same. When I turned around, there he was, ring box in hand. I was so surprised, it took me what felt like five minutes to fully grasp what was happening. Needless to say, I said yes, and Mike, who looking back was incredibly well dressed for a casual walk, managed to get the whole thing on film. We actually didn’t tell anyone for a few hours and just enjoyed the time together, with a fire and some champagne. of course.

I have always loved botanicals, and when we decided to get married at Windsor, I immediately thought of The Book of Palms by Taschen. I felt it captured the tropical lushness yet refined elegance of the club. It served as inspiration for the save the dates and then everything grew from there. The book made a cameo as our guest book, and it was fun to be surprised with notes on random pages.

Windsor is such a stunning location, and the team is so on top of it, it was beautiful from the moment we arrived. We basically showed up. Lara executed the flowers so flawlessly. We chose to use as much local greenery as possible, and I loved the way it looked like everything could have just come from the property.

The theme for the wedding party was tropical chic, and I basically let the girls choose whatever dress they wanted in a solid color. They all ended up with the most stunning and vibrant colors, that up against the colors and architecture of Windsor, brought so much life and movement to the event.

The highlight from our first look was walking over to the Town Hall, where our ceremony was about to take place. There was an intense sense of anticipation knowing the striking structure was about to be filled with all of our favorite people yet the calmness of it just being us for a moment. We knew that after the ceremony, the rest of the night was going to fly by, and we wanted to make sure we set aside a few moments to breathe and take it all in together.

One of my favorite moments was the New Orleans style second line parade from the Town Hall to the reception. The brass band was a surprise to our wedding party and guests, and the spontaneity of the whole thing really set the tone for evening. Music has always been central to our relationship, so it is no surprise that our favorite moments center around it. Other favorite moments were our mother/son, father/daughter dance, which we did together to the 1920s swing song, 'In the Mood'. One of my close friends performed 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna as a tribute to my amazing aunt who passed away, and she absolutely rocked it.